Arthur W. Perdue founded Perdue Farms in 1920 but the company gained national attention as a brand name in the 1970s when son and successor, Franklin P. Perdue, became television pitchman for the company. Today, Jim Perdue, grandson of the founder, is the chief executive and the face of Perdue on television. The company sells chicken and turkey products to food retailers and food service companies in the Eastern and Midwestern U.S. and exports poultry products to more than 70 foreign countries around the world. Perdue runs two soybean-processing plants that produce vegetable oils and ingredients for animal feed.